This is an archive article published on October 6, 2020
Getting ready for Covid-19 vaccine: Subgroup begins to map cold chains
A subgroup has been formed to look at cold chain storage, sources in the Expert Group said. IAS officer S Aparna, who has been recently appointed as Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, heads the subgroup.
The Centre has also asked states to repair nonfunctional cold chain equipment, train staff in cold chain handling, and hold task force meetings at the block and district levels to discuss preparedness. (File)
As several experimental vaccines against the novel coronavirus near the end of late stage clinical trials, the National Expert Group on vaccine administration for Covid-19 has begun to map cold chain storage facilities across the country, including those available with the food processing industry, The Indian Express has learnt.
A temperature-controlled cold chain, including equipment and procedures used in transport, storage, and handling, is a critical aspect of the administration of the potential vaccine. Poor handling, including exposing the vaccine to temperatures outside the recommended range, can result in reduction of potency and wastage.
The decision to augment cold chain storage comes in the backdrop of the government asking states to submit lists of priority population groups for receiving the vaccine. On Sunday, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had said that the government expects to receive and utilise 400-500 million doses, and cover approximately 20-25 crore people by July 2021.
Story continues below this ad
Explained
Why a cold chain is key
A subgroup has been formed to look at cold chain storage, sources in the Expert Group said. IAS officer S Aparna, who has been recently appointed as Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, heads the subgroup.
Sources said the subgroup has had detailed deliberations on augmenting the existing cold chain storage of the government’s Universal Immunisation programme.
“India has a network of more than 16,000 cold chain storages with temperature trackers in each storage. The three indigenous manufacturers (Bharat Biotech, Zydus Cadila, and Serum Institute) have given detailed information on cold storage requirements, and the temperature at which the vaccine needs to be stored. Our existing cold storage fulfills the requirements of these three vaccine candidates. However, as per our estimation, we might be requiring more than 16,000 (cold chain storages), and therefore, we need to augment,” a source said.
Story continues below this ad
The government will rope in multiple agencies in the augmentation effort.
“Within the government, we are doing an exercise to find out where cold storage facilities are available outside the network of the Ministry of Health. We are doing a mapping of cold storage facilities available with food processing and the Ministry of Commerce. The process is on track,” the source said.
Oxford’s vaccine candidate, which will be manufactured in India by Pune-based Serum Institute, will have to be refrigerated at 2-8 degrees Celsius. It is learnt that the Expert Group is at the moment not considering the m-RNA vaccine candidate being developed by Moderna, which must be stored in much lower temperatures.
“This (Moderna) vaccine requires ultra-cold storage. We don’t have that kind of cold storage,” sources said.
Story continues below this ad
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has directed states to provide bulk-storage cold chain equipment like walk-in coolers/ freezers at the level of state vaccine stores. The National Cold Chain and Vaccine Management Resource Centre is providing technical guidance to the states.
The Centre has also asked states to repair nonfunctional cold chain equipment, train staff in cold chain handling, and hold task force meetings at the block and district levels to discuss preparedness.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
4 min read
